Remember
by Qili-Feng
Summary: It's Italy's birthday, and he finally wants to tell Germany how he feels. But, does Germany feel the same? After all, he doesn't seem to remember it's Italy's birthday... ON HIATUS. SORRY GUYS!
1. Forgotten

It just wasn't Italy's best day. He'd been taking a walk around Berlin, enjoying the scenery and hiding from the women, when England strode up to him, and kicked him in the shin.

The kick sent sparks of pain up Italy's leg, and he immediately lifted his leg and clutched it to his chest, sending his other leg off balance. England laughed as Italy flailed for something to steady himself, or at least to catch him, but he fell with a dull thud onto the pavement.

Italy gasped for breath as his lungs seemed to collapse in surprise, and push the oxygen out of his frail body; England shook his head and walked away, leaving Italy with an unsettling statement:

"You're always good for a laugh."

After a few minute of coughing, Italy regained his breath, and shakily got to his feet. _Maybe going for a walk wasn't a good idea… _Italy thought as he brushed dirt off of his black pants and cream colored dress-shirt. He turned and began walking again, trying to get back into his carefree stride, when he tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. He didn't flail this time, but instead readied himself for the impact; his arms lifted up to block his face, and his eyes squeeze shut in fear.

His fall was over in a minute, and he stood up, inspecting the hole in the sleeve of his shirt. _What will Germany say?_ Italy sighed and shook his head, and walked into a restaurant. It was crowded, with many people eating sandwiches while they ate and hovering over the other diners in the tables, but the he didn't mind; he wanted something to make him feel better. His whole day had been going in the wrong direction.

It was his birthday; so why was everything so wrong? It seemed to Italy that the universe just hated pasta-loving, white flag-waving adorable Italians at the moment.

"Ciao." Italy sad flatly to the lovely Germany girl behind the counter; she blinked, and gave him a confused sideways blink. Italy rolled his eyes, and waved. The girl smiled, and spoke English in a heavy German accent.

"How may I help you?"

Italy took a moment to scan the menu hanging behind the counter, stopping when his eyes fell over the pasta. Maybe there _was_ hope for his birthday; Italy smiled, and looked back to the girl, who was waiting patiently.

"I'd like some pasta, please."

The girl winced, and gave him a sad look, playing with her hands. Italy knew what was coming, and he attempted to brace himself; his day was only getting worse.

"I'm sorry; we're all out of pasta, sir."

Italy's breath caught in his throat, and he shook his head with a smile. The girl gave Italy the most desperately sad look he could have imagined, clawing at his heart with the sorrow swimming in her eyes.

"Anything else you want?" She asked, attempting to save Italy's mood. "I'll discount it for you."

"Oh, that's okay, I guess. No big deal."

_This is the worst birthday I've ever had._ Italy thought with a frown as he walked out of the restaurant and back out onto the street. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and tried to see the bright side of the day, but couldn't find it behind the dark storm cloud that seemed to cover his head. _I'll just go back to Germany's… maybe he'll have something fun to do for my birthday._ Italy struggled to put a smile onto his lips, and rushed back to the large house on the edge of town.

He took off his shoes, and walked to the end of the hall, cracking the door to Germany's study open a few inches.

The room was dark; storm clouds had begun to gather outside the windows, but Germany didn't notice, and hadn't turned on the light yet. Germany sat at his desk quietly, looking at papers, writing something down, and then looking at other papers.

"Germany?"

Italy squeaked, surprised by how his small voice could fill the empty room. Germany paused, looked up at Italy, then back down to his papers.

"What is it, Italy? Did England smack the back of your head again?"

Germany asked with his gruff voice. Italy scooted into the room, pushing the door shut behind him, and hiding his torn shirt sleeve by clasping his hands behind his back.

"Oh. No, that's not it. He kicked my leg, today."

Germany shook his with a sigh, scratching his ballpoint pen over a paper, circling something, then taking out a new paper.

"And you let him get away with it?"

Italy looked to the floor, suddenly embarrassed with his behavior. Germany placed the pen cap onto his pen, and looked up at Italy, his gaze burning into the top of Italy's head.

"What is it, Italy?"

Italy lifted his gaze from the floor to meet Germany's eyes; his brown eyes reflected the strong country that sat at his desk with his hands folded, waiting for a reply. Italy blinked at this man;_ He was incredibly handsome._ Germany raised an eyebrow as Italy remained quiet. Italy's voice cracked as he spoke.

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to do something fun."

Germany pushed a stray piece of his blonde hair back into place as he sighed, looking down at his desk; his boss had marched into his office and slammed a pile of paperwork onto the surface, and demanded it be done by the end of the day.

"Nein, Italy. I've got paperwork to do."

Italy rocked back and forth on his heels, hoping Germany hadn't… _forgotten _his birthday… had he?

"Per favore, Germany? When you're done, we could..."

Germany shook his head, waving Italy away with a flick of his wrist.

"I said no, Italy. I'm very busy."

With that, Germany pulled out his pen and began to look over his papers again. Italy's heart shook; Germany _had _forgotten. Even though Italy had been talking about his birthday for weeks, Germany didn't bother to think about it.

"Beh, buona fortuna."

Italy wished Germany luck, and quickly headed for the door. Italy's chin shook, threatening to reveal the tears he was hiding, but Italy had closed the door by the time the first sullen tear rolled down his cheek.

"Feliciano?"

Italy's older brother called out his human name, causing Italy to panic. His older brother usually yelled at Italy when he cried, and he didn't want to be yelled on his birthday.

"Ah. Lovino!" Italy smiled, quickly wiping away his tears as his brother, Lovino, walked down the hall towards him. Lovino placed his hands on his hips, giving Italy a strange look.

"Why're you crying, Feliciano?"

Italy looked at his brother blankly, trying to hide his disappointment with a shaking smile. There was a lump in his throat, and he struggled to swallow; Lovino would know he was lying, but he tried to cover his sadness. He shrugged loosely, smiling.

"I'm not crying, Lovi."

He said as he began to walk away, towards another door that led out to a garden behind Germany's house, but Lovino grasped Italy's hand, and yanked him back. Lovino's hand held Feliciano's solidly, and they both paused, not wanting to cause an argument.

Tension filled the air as time streched out before them, and Feliciano gritted his teeth as his brother spoke to him.

"Was is that potato bastard?"

"No."

Italy's answered a little too quickly. Lovino shook his head in disapproval as Italy tried to pull away to the door, but Lovino held his grip on Italy tight. _Let go, Lovi..._ Italy wanted to say it out loud, but the words didn't come; instead he hung his head in shame.

"You put too much trust in that jerk."

Italy scowled at the ground, not agreeing. He gave his arm one last tug, and Lovino let go stubbornly. Feliciano took a shakey breath, looking down at the dark wood floor at his feet; he couldn't look Lovi in the eyes. He knew if he did, he would fall into his brother's arms and tell him everything.

"I'm... going for a walk. I'll be back soon."

Lovino's eyes widened and shook his head, reaching for his little brother, but missing as Italy stepped out of the way, and opened the door.

"It's going to rain, Feli! Thunder storm warnings were all over the news this moring!"

Italy shrugged, taking a step through the door, not wanting to keep still; he needed to move, to forget about his birthday, and Germany.

"So, I'll get a little wet."

"No, you'll get struck by lightning."

Lovino rolled his eyes at his little brother, crossing his arms over his chest as Italy shrugged, and shut the door behind him, disappearing into the garden.


	2. Fratello

Lovino paced for a ten minutes, listening to the rain as it began to tap against the roof of the house. He peeked out the window to the garden, not seeing his brother in the garden. _This was all Germany's fault._ Lovino pouted as he waited for another fifteen minutes, but, in the end, Lovino knew that Germany had the asnwer to what was going on.

Lovino's body shook with anger as he stomped to Germany's study, and kicked the door open.

Germany looked up, surprised by the sudden outburst, then rolled his eyes and looked back down at his desk, used to Lovino's temper.

"What is it?"

He asked flatly, signing a paper, and placing it in a pile with other finished papers. Lovino stomped to the desk, leaned forward, and slammed his palm down onto the desk, letting the noise attract Germany's attention. Lovino was seething with anger, and wanted to be intimidating, but Germany merely sat back calmly and sighed, putting his pen down.

"What did you do?"

Lovino growled. Germany's ocean blue eyes swam with confusion at the question, not quite understanding what he was talking about. _How can my brother be in love with a bastard like him? _Lovino thought sourly; he cared about his brother, but he still couldn't understand his reasoning for anything. Giving up on Germany, Lovino rolled his eyes, and stood up straight, crossing his arms over his chest with a huff.

"What did you do to Feliciano?"

"Oh." Germany nodded with understadning, and leaned back over his desk, looking over a few documents, then signing one. Lovino tapped his foot on the floor impatiently as he waited for confirmation that Germany understood.

"Italy." Germany mumbled, signing another paper and placing it in a neatly piled stack on the side of his desk.

"Yes, Italy."

Lovino responded slowly, his voice deep with frustration. Germany didn't seem to notice the fumes of anger radiating from Lovino, and remained enthrawled with his paperwork.

"He was acting a bit strange. What's going on with him?" Germany asked blankly.

Lovino scoffed, watching Germany continue writing on his paperwork. His brother was walking into a thunderstorm with a deathwish, and Germany was sitting at his stupid desk, signing his stupid papers. _What a bastard... he should go to hell, forgetting Feli's birthday so easily... bastard!_

With a flourish, Lovino grabbed stack of Germany's finished papers, and threw them to the ground.

"Hey!"

Germany stood and shouted, his booming voice jumping from wall to wall. Lovino took take a step back, his legs shaking in fear.

But it wasn't enough.

Germany had done something to upset his brother enough to go for a walk in the rain. Lovino wanted to know what was going on, and he would do whatever he wanted until he figured it out.

Lovino yelled swearwords in italian, running over to Germany's bookshelfs and pulling books off one by one, screaming about what an idiot Germany was. Germany worked on picking up his papers, and dropped most of them as he ran over to his bookshelf to stop Lovino.

"Lovino! What are you doing?"

Germany hollered as his history books crashed to the ground. Lovino's hands shoke as he threw another book to the ground; his lips were trembling as he spoke, but his words were no less sharp.

"Getting your stupid German attention!"

He panted as Germany folded his arms across his chest, and raised an eyebrow, waiting for the big news. Lovino smoothed back his hair, and kicked a book absently as he glared deep into Germany's sky blue eyes.

"Feliciano is taking a walk outside._ In your garden._ right now."

Lovino muttered with a scowl; he pushed a book across the floor with his foot as he spoke, not taking his eyes from Germany's. Germany nodded, shrugging a little bit, confused as to why it was so important that he knew that.

"And? Why should that matter?"

Lovino pointed out the window, and Germany turned to see that dark clouds had blockedout the sun. There were flashes of light in the clouds, and lightning ripped through the sky, the bright fingers of electricity reaching for the ground and just licking the surface of the earth.

Germany's eyes widened in alarm; Italy was walking around in _that_?

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier?"

Lovino raised his eyebrows and put a hand on his hip, waving the other hand at Germany's desk.

"You weren't listening. You seemed kinda busy. Maybe that's why Feli was upset."

Germany blinked spastically; that's why Italy was walking around in the rain? Because he couldn't mess around with him? Germany paused, his body was tense, ready to move, but he was unsure of what to do.

"_Or," _Lovino looked at his fingernails casually. "It could be the fact that you forgot his birthday."

"What?"

Germany said, finally remembering all of the strange hints that Italy had been dropping the past few weeks; like when Italy kept saying when it was his birthday, he wanted to go to a certain restuarant, or, he would really like a blanket like the one in a store window for his birthday.

Lovino watched as Germany sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and shaking his head slowly.

"Finally figured it out?"

Lovino frowned, standing back as Germany stooped down, picked some of the papers that had fallen, and haphazerdly shoving them back onto his desk. With a quick turn, Germany glanced out the window, and winced as lightning streaked across the sky again. Grabbing his coat, Germany headed for the door.

Lovino shivered and pulled the curtains closed, not wanting to see what danger his brother had walked into. He hurried after Germany, who was walking out of the door of the study.

"Where are _you _going?"

He said as Germany pulled on his coat, and headed for the door to the garden. Germany turned with a frustrated expression on his face, but Lovino saw the fear that was hidden in his light blue eyes.

"I'm going to find Italy."

He opened the door, and was greeted by a bone-chilling wind carrying rain with it. Germany covered his eyes, and began to trudge into the rain. Lovino clung to Germany's coat desperately, as if he was afraid the wind would pick him up and carry him away.

"Italy!"

Germany called his name over and over, but his voice was carried away by the wind. He continued to trudge forward against the wind, further into the garden; Lovino looked around the area, squinting as rain flew into his eyes. _Where are you?_


	3. Don't let go

Italy leaned against the house, struggling to keep out of the rain. His shirt was dripping wet, and clung to his body, causing him to shiver. He'd only made it to the other side of the garden when the a bolt of lightning tore through the sky and hit a nearby tree.

Italy had seeked refuge beneath a window; the sill jutted away from the wall, giving a bit of relief from the rain. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back as water dripped from his soaked hair, and rolled down his face; he wanted to go back inside, but he didn't want to risk being struck by the lightning.

His eyes snapped open when he heard someone call his name. _Germany? _Italy felt hope spark and crackle in his chest as he listened carefully. He turned his head sharply, causing his hair to send drops of rain splashing against his cheeks.

"Italy!"

The voice seemed far away, but it was a familiar voice. _Germany!_ He ran from his hiding place under the window, and scrambled back into the garden. His shoes slipped and squeeked against the cement ground of the garden, but he ran anyway. He squinted against the rain, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Germany!"

Thunder boomed just as Italy cried out his name, and Italy ducked. _Where are you? _Italy peeked up, and survayed his surroundings, and jumped from his culred up position, rushing forward through the garden. The sky lit up with sparks, and thunder rumbled above Italy's head, causing him to cover his head with his hands.

"Germany!"

Italy screamed, tears were streaming from his eyes, and he couldn't see where he was going anymore; the ground seemed to rise up beneath his feet, and he tripped over a fallen tree branch.

Pain radiated through his left knee as he pressed his hands over it; Italy could feel the warm blood welling up beneath his fingers, but he forced himself to stand up again. He could hear Germany calling out to him, guiding him to safety.

"Italy!"

Germany called again, looking around the garden, only seeing the flowers being torn apart by the heavy rain. Lovino paused, tugging on Germany's jacket to get his full attention.

"What?" Germany shouted over the rain, Lovino cupped his hand over his ear and shouted back.

"Listen! I can hear him!"

Germany strained his ears, but couldn't hear Italy's voice, instead, he began to rush forward into the garden, the only direction Lovino could hear the voice coming from. Germany's shoes were filled with water, and created puddles of it everywhere he stepped. _Where are you Italy?_

"Italy, where are you?"

Germany called desperately, squinting through the rain, and hearing a small voice.

"Here! Germany!"

Italy limped into sight, holding his knee and smiling greatfully; his good leg ached, and Italy began to teeter forward. Germany rushed forward and caught Italy before he hit the ground. He looked down at Italy's knee, inspecting the bloodied skin before he looked at Italy's face.

"Are you alright, Italy?"

He said, barely audiable above the rain. Italy smiled, and pushed back Germany's uncontrolled hair from his eyes.

"Sto bene."

Germany gave Italy a small smile; Italy loved it when Germany smiled. You could see it reflected in his eyes and hear it everything he said.

"I didn't understand that, but I hope it means you're fine."

Italy nodded, and gasped as Germany picked him up; the contact sparked pain back into Italy's leg, and brought tears to his eyes. He leaned into Germany, and gripped the collar of his coat as they began to leave the garden.

"Feliciano." Italy opened his eyes to see his brother walking along next to Germany, his eyes shining with worry.

"Fratello."

Italy smiled, holding back a sob as he felt blood trailing down his leg. Lovino smiled, and pat his little brother's hair, glancing up at Germany to see his mouth shut tight in a straight line.

"Just a little further, Italy."

Germany huffed, carefully turning around the corner that hid the door back into the house. Italy sighed, pressing his face against Germany's neck, and smiling.

"Si. Non lasciarmi andare, Germania."

Germany gave Lovino a sideways glace, not understanding.

"What did he say?"

Lovino looked down to the ground, and shook the water from his hair, trying to cool down his blushing cheeks.

"I... didn't quite catch it."

The garden seemed to stretch out further in front of Italy's eyes, and he blinked slowly. Water dripped from his hair and began to make everything meld together. _This is... much better. _Italy thought as he closed his eyes; his hands began to loosen their grip on Germany's coat as Italy started to drift off into an uneasy sleep.

_So much better._ Italy confirmed as he inhaled Germany's scent, and clung to it as his mind escapeed from him, and wandered into a dream.


End file.
